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Watchdog looking into legality of EPA tweet poking Dems

An independent government watchdog has agreed to a Democratic senator's request to look into claims that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the law through a politically charged tweet in April, a spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is reviewing an April 13 tweet from the official EPA account that praised the Senate's confirmation of Andrew Wheeler as the agency's deputy administrator while adding, in part, "The Democrats couldn’t block the confirmation."

“In my view, this tweet does not advance an information function of the EPA and is purely partisan in nature,” Udall said in a statement Tuesday. “The appropriations law prohibiting federal agencies from spending on publicity and propaganda was enacted for a reason — to ensure that taxpayer dollars only support official activities, not political speech."

Previously John O’Grady, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents EPA employees, sent a complaint to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) arguing that the EPA's April tweet was in violation of the Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from engaging in political activity while on the job.

O’Grady charged that Pruitt or someone acting on his behalf directed the tweet.

“It’s not our job to basically tell them whether or not it was a violation of the law. It appeared to be a violation of the law, so we want the Office of Special Counsel to give us a clear indication,” O’Grady told Federal News Radio at the time.

However, the OSC ruled on May 23 that the tweet was not in violation of the Hatch Act and that Pruitt was not at fault.

"The tweet at issue does not give rise to a Hatch Act violation because, without more, it was not aimed at the electoral success or defeat of a political party or candidate for partisan political office," wrote Ana Galindo-Marrone, chief of the Hatch Act Unit, in a letter to Pruitt obtained by The Hill. "Accordingly, OSC has concluded that no EPA employee violated the Hatch Act."

Galindo-Marrone added that officials learned that Pruitt did not compose the tweet nor personally directed anyone at the agency to write it.